Gold Star Awards
Joanne Crain is the first place winner in Princeton Family YMCA’s Teacher of The Year “Gold Star Awards” celebration. A sixth grade math teacher at Community Middle School, she was cited for her “risk free” academic environment that fosters creativity, rewards individual initiative, and promotes positive communication of honesty, respect, caring, and responsibility within the classroom. Crain has opened the doors of her classroom to her community through projects with the Crisis Ministry in Princeton and the Trenton After School Program. Her awards included $2,”000, a laptop computer, a digital camera, classroom equipment, and certificates. ##M:[more]##
Donna Gil, also a teacher from Community Middle School, was a runner-up in the contest. An ESL teacher for 28 years, she considers it her responsibility to not simply educate her students but to provide social and emotional support to her students and their families. Gil coordinated a Christmas Drive at her church as well as raising private funds to help needy families in her area with medical and living expenses.
Jennifer Kunz from Village Elementary School in Montgomery Township was the other runner-up. A third grade teacher, her classroom raised money for the Young Scholars Institute and local Soup Kitchens through class projects involving crafts, movies, and lots of teamwork. Both Kunz and Gil received $750, scanners, Ipods, and classroom prizes.
The award was created to give extraordinary teachers the recognition they deserve but rarely receive.
Sponsors include Comp USA, Canon USA, Best Buy, Princeton Nassau Conover Ford, La Jolie, LaRue Sunoco, Chevy’s, Edgebrook Property Development, the Shehab Family, the Roth Family, and Art Craft Promotional Concepts.
The award is open to all kindergarten through eighth grade public school teachers with a minimum of three years teaching experience. For more information visit www.princetonymca.org or call 609-497-9622, ext. 210.
Grover Teacher Honored
Joan Ruddiman, a gifted and enrichment specialist at Grover Middle School, was named a fellow by the Gifted Child Society. She received a full scholarship to attend Confratute, an institute for teacher training in education of the gifted at the University of Connecticut this month. Nearly two dozen teachers were selected from New Jersey based on professional excellence, leadership, and regional representation. Fellows pledge to pass along their new knowledge in the form of staff training and program development in their school district and region. For more information on the program visit www.gifted.org.
